Royals suing French mag over duchess of Cambridge topless pics

Topless photos of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, taken with a long lens last week as the couple vacationed at a royal relative's secluded home in Provence, France, are earning the French magazine that published them a royal lawsuit.

St. James's Palace said Friday in a statement that "legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced today in France" by the royal couple.

Kate and Prince William were told about the pictures over breakfast before visiting a mosque in Malaysia, where they're on tour. A source told ABC News that they were initially "saddened" but then became shocked and angry.

"Thephotos weselected areby no meansdegrading," the editor of Closer France said in French in a statement, also clarifying that that decision to run the pics had nothing to do with the UK incarnation of Closer magazine. "They show ayoung couple on vacation."

The blurry topless pics were also offered to the UK's Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror last week, those papers' editor told Yahoo News, noting that as with the previous pictures of a naked Prince Harry, they declined to purchase or publish the images.

For its part, the chief executive of the UK Closer declared the owners and publishers of the brand "appalled," posting a statement on its crashed website that read in part, "We deplore the publication of these intrusive and offensive pictures and have asked that Closer France takes these pictures down immediately from its website and desist from publishing any further pictures. ...

"We were not aware in advance of the purchase of these photographs or of any intention to publish. We have absolutely no control over the editorial decisions of Closer France. In the light of their publication, we are now urgently discussing this matter with our licensee and reviewing the terms of our licence agreement with Closer France.

"Like our readers we are appalled and regret the pain the publication of these photographs has caused."